Pulse of Heroes (69 page)

For the first time in her life, Michelle
actually felt safe as the plane accelerated down the runway and
took off. She didn’t care that she could hear the large engines
roaring as they worked overtime to lift the heavy aircraft. She
didn’t care that her body felt the pull of the earth’s gravity
fighting to keep her grounded like a mother trying to hold on to
all her children. There was safety in the air. Up above the earth,
no one could touch her anymore. She could tell that her mother was
nervous because she squeezed Michelle’s hand tighter. Michelle
reassured her with a smile. If her mom only knew how secure she
felt as the powerful engines cut through the sky, climbing higher
and higher, she wouldn’t have needed to hold her hand. Michelle had
only one objective in mind, and that was to be there to say goodbye
to her friend before she was returned to the earth. Even after the
plane leveled off and the sounds of the little service bells began
to chime, she sat straight and wanted nothing.

They had about two hours to spend in Zurich
before the next flight would carry them across the Atlantic Ocean.
Michelle sat on one of the benches in the terminal with her knees
pulled up against her chest, methodically munching on a wonderful
chocolate bar, guilt free, until she realized that she had nothing
left in her hand but the wrapper. Her parents had gone to the duty
free store. At first her mother was nervous about leaving Michelle
alone, but the way that she had been doting over her daughter since
the news about Francesca had been driving Michelle crazy, and she
insisted that she would be fine.

Michelle gazed longingly at the chocolate
kiosk. She really wanted to try the semi-dark bar with caramel and
almonds. She was definitely self-medicating, but in a relatively
healthy way. It felt like heaven to roll the silky concoction
around in the back of her mouth so she could get every bit of
goodness out of it before swallowing it down. And then the short
wait for the delicate head rush. Now back at the kiosk, Michelle
looked at the tremendous variety of chocolate bars to choose from
as if she had never seen them before. They were so pretty in their
gold and silver wrappings. She wished she could buy them all. After
great soul-searching, she eventually decided to purchase the same
bar as the one she had bought only moments earlier, because she
just wasn’t willing to take the chance that the other ones might
not be as good. “I’m sorry,” Michelle said to the boy behind the
counter as she struggled to get all the strange coins out of her
front pocket and onto the countertop. She heard somebody speak in
German to the cashier, and felt very embarrassed that she was
obviously taking way too long and holding up the line. Michelle saw
an arm reach around her head to hand the boy some bills, and that
made her feel even worse.

“Miss, it’s no need. The gentlemen behind you
paid for you already,” the boy said to her in crisp English.
Michelle felt mortified that someone actually thought she was so
pathetic that they paid for her measly bar just so they could
purchase their own goods. She slowly looked up at the boy,
completely red-faced, wondering if she had heard him correctly. But
he just gestured to the person behind her and smiled shyly.

“Maybe you should thank the gentleman,” he
whispered to her. Michelle took a deep breath and gathered all the
guts she could muster to say a feeble thank you to the kind person
behind her, while at the same time trying not to look too pitiful.
She spun around to look at the figure that was obviously towering
over her, and when she saw him her heart almost stopped out of
sheer surprise.

“Not even a hello? Or a simple thank you?”
Rion asked, trying not to burst out laughing at Michelle’s obvious
embarrassment.

“What are you doing here?” her heart raced.
“I mean, thank you,” she said, catching her breath. The whole scene
felt like a déjà vu. She hadn’t seen Rion since she left the
concert with Haden. How much did he know about what had happened?
Wait, weren’t they family now? She just couldn’t believe it as he
stood in front of her, tall and so handsome. The boy behind the
counter gave out a little cough as a polite way to remind Michelle
that now she really was blocking the line and everyone was staring
at her. Michelle apologized and quickly stepped out of the way.
Rion snatched up the chocolate bar that she had so desperately
sought, and handed it to her. He tucked the magazine he had just
purchased under his arm, and they walked around the kiosk, Michelle
all the while gazing at him in adulation. There was a small round
bench around one of the many columns that dotted the terminal, and
they sat down facing one another.

“I’m sorry I’m making you so nervous. Did I
scare you? I thought we were all friends?” he asked smiling. “You
really should try and catch your breath. Your heart is beating way
too fast. Maybe have a bite of your treat?” he taunted her
jokingly. Michelle swallowed hard and grabbed his hand, which
surprised him because of the intensity with which she did it. “What
is it?” he asked, ready to hear whatever it was she was dying to
say.

“Are we really family?” she asked him in an
exhilarated whisper. Elliot hadn’t told Rion that he had discussed
The Pulse
with Michelle, so her question surprised him. He
had no idea how much had been revealed to her. The term family was
definitely stretching it. But Rion marveled at the expression
passing across Michelle’s delighted face. She wanted to be his
family; he could tell that if he said no she would be crushed, and
the poor thing had gone through so much already. He set his
magazine down and spread his arms open, smiling at her.

“Of course we are,” he announced, waiting for
his hug. He couldn’t have them all, he thought to himself, not that
he ever would have gone there, but somehow he still thought
Michelle was too good for Elliot. Maybe he was feeling extra
protective over her; maybe it was just his instinct to protect what
was somehow his. Did he fear that she would fare no better than
Leta, who was also from his own flesh and blood?

No, Rion feared nothing. Family was still
better than nothing, no matter how many generations it was diluted
by. The girl was still as cute as a bug. Michelle’s smile spread
wide across her face when she saw Rion’s welcoming expression, and
she just about leapt into his arms when she heard her father’s
voice calling her name in distress. When Rion saw Michelle’s
parents, his expression turned serious and he immediately stood up
so as to not give the wrong impression. He’d get his hug another
time. Michelle also jumped to her feet and introduced Rion to her
parents as a friend who she had met at the church in St Alodia.
Michelle’s mother was shocked by the handsome young man that stood
in front of her. She smiled at him and even blushed a little.
Meanwhile, Michelle’s father just stood there unhappy that this
stranger had won his wife over so quickly.

“Rion knows Francesca too,” Michelle said
excitedly, only to remember that Francesca was no longer with them.
“I mean knew her,” she said solemnly. Her mother asked Rion if he
had heard the sad news.

“Yes, I have. A lovely lady, it is a sad
event for a community to lose someone like her. I will be attending
her funeral. And I know she was quite fond of Michelle.” Michelle
turned to look at Rion, amazed by how smooth he was. He knew
exactly what to say at the right time. “I was just consoling
Michelle, or maybe she was consoling me, when you saw us.”

“Yeah mom, Rion used to speak to her in
Italian,” Michelle said, trying to add some credibility to her
relationship with the handsome young man. Her mom told Rion that
that was why they had cut their vacation short. She also told him
how Michelle had enjoyed her time in Hungary, and how she had made
many new friends. Rion kept his mouth shut and tried to remain
straight-faced when he realized how little Michelle’s parents knew
about their daughter’s activities. He gave Michelle several
sideways glances of amusement while her mom recounted Michelle’s
stories, actually her lies, about what she did with Vilna and
Marika. Michelle was getting worried that Rion might actually blow
it for her with his spreading smirk, so she stepped backwards and
kicked his shoe with the back of her foot, warning to him not to
say anything, which only made him want to laugh even more.

“So, are you taking the same flight as ours?”
Michelle’s father inquired, hoping that the answer was a ‘no’. He
had already made up his mind that he didn’t like this Rion, because
although he said all the right things, he seemed a little too
confident for his age, almost smug, and he could have sworn that he
was flirting with his wife. Michelle on the other hand hoped that
Rion was on the same plane, but his was going through New York
while theirs was headed to Philadelphia. Michelle didn’t dare ask
if he was going to see Elliot. That was when Rion excused himself,
saying that his flight was probably already boarding and he had to
make haste or he would be sure to miss it. They exchanged their
goodbyes, but as they all walked off in opposite directions
Michelle turned to look back towards him again. Rion immediately
spun to face her and theatrically put his hand over his heart to
convey his affection. That made Michelle laugh, but he immediately
put his finger to his lips gesturing her to keep quiet.

Something was obviously wrong. The speakers
in the airport were calling for Mr. and Mrs. Andrews to return to
the ticket counters. Michelle was oblivious to the angst as she
listened to her MP3 player and dreamt about what it would have been
like to have known Rion when he was a real king. She wondered if
his personality had been any different back then, or if people had
feared him. But then her mind shifted to Elliot as it usually did,
and she remembered that someone had told her something about Elliot
being a king once too. Her feelings for Elliot were a complete
jumble, so much so that when she found herself thinking about him
she forced herself to think of something else. For example, the
lady in the smart business suit who was walking up the line of
passengers and asking them questions. Michelle watched her as she
clicked around in her high heels and nervously held one hand
against her earphone.

Michelle’s mother tugged at her shirt and
signaled to her to remove her ear buds so she could hear what was
being said. “What mom?” Michelle asked, noticing the loud hum of
nervous bodies all around them. Her mother asked her to listen to
the overhead speakers and tell her if she too heard their names
being called. Michelle waited for the speakers while the first
group of passengers began boarding the plane. The lady in the suit
moved to the next group as the speakers came back to life. “I think
it was our name, but I’m not sure. It’s so muffled and the person
has a thick accent?” Michelle said. Her father said that it
probably just sounded like their names; why would anybody be paging
them he chuckled.

“Ron, could we be in trouble? What if we’re
at the wrong gate? Maybe it’s something in my bag?” Her mother’s
voice sounded concerned. A baby began crying in the next line over
and Michelle put her ear buds back in. But before she could turn
the music on the woman with the headset walked over to their line
and began asking if Mr. and Mrs. Andrews were present. Oh, no,
Michelle thought. They were looking for them. She suddenly became
scared at the possibility that the Romanian police might be after
her. Maybe they found the bodies with her fingerprints all over the
place. She began shaking as her father introduced himself to the
lady and everybody stared at them as if they were guilty of
something horrible. Her mom didn’t fare any better as their line
was now boarding and they were told to walk over to the service
desk.

Michelle stood next to her nervous mother and
watched her father’s animated image as he tried to explain
something to the clerks behind the counter. The speakers overhead
were booming with alarm, announcing to late passengers that the
gate for the flight to Philadelphia was about to close. Michelle
looked at her mother but she had no answers. Finally, her father
returned to where they stood and he was actually laughing to
himself.

“What is it? Are we ok to go on the flight?”
Michelle’s mom asked. There were only two other people left at the
gate besides them.

“Honey, I don’t know what to say,” he said
wiping the sweat that formed at his temples, “Somehow we got put in
first class. I told them that it was a mistake, but they argued
that our seats were upgraded in the last ten minutes.” Michelle
looked at her father as if he had gone mad, and her mom told him
that they had to object because they couldn’t afford such flights
and what if the charge showed up later and they would have to cover
the difference? Her father laughed nervously again, and told her
that the computer showed that the upgrades were paid for all in
cash. Meaning that they were purchased free and clear.

“Somebody paid almost $10,000 in cash!” he
said, and Michelle noticed that he was sweating again. The lady in
the suit walked back to them and ushered them all into the gate,
telling them that it was time for them to board or the plane would
leave without them. She added that if in fact the whole thing was a
mistake, then at this point the airline would have to cover the
loss and pay the difference. Michelle’s mother was not
convinced.

“This is a long flight. Enjoy it, it will be
much more pleasant for you, that I can promise,” the lady said as
they entered the aircraft and the door was pulled shut behind them.
When they were seated, her mother marveled at how much more
comfortable everything was. Legroom was not an issue at all, and
the seats turned into small lounge chairs so they could sleep with
their legs fully stretched out. The flight attendants were already
bringing drinks and snacks, and they were still on the ground. Her
father said something about how this flight would spoil him, but
he’d get used to it.